(Minghui.org), Ms. Li Guixia was kept in a small room every day to suffer “heat torture” for over two months beginning June 9, 2020. The room had two large heaters running, and anyone who entered would soon be soaked in sweat.
As a result of the excessive heat, Ms. Li was drowsy and had severe headaches. But there was one thing she was very clear on: It was the last attempt in four years that the Liaoning Province Women’s Prison tried to force her to renounce her faith in Falun Gong before her scheduled release date on August 31, 2020.
Ms. Li, 57, of Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province, started to practice Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation practice also known as Falun Dafa, in 1996. In seven days, her breast cancer was cured and she couldn’t have been elated and grateful for her recovery.
Similar to Ms. Li, many practitioners of Falun Gong experienced dramatic improvement in her health after taking up the practice. With Falun Gong spreading quickly through word of mouth, it was estimated by the Chinese government that between 70 to 100 million Chinese were practicing it by early 1999.
Due to Falun Gong's tremendous popularity and its teachings of traditional values that threatened the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) atheistic ideology, it initiated a nationwide campaign of persecution targeting Falun Gong in July 1999. Jiang Zemin, the then leader of the CCP, vowed to eradicate Falun Gong in three months.
Having benefited so much from Falun Gong, Ms. Li felt compelled to share her story with people. As a result of her courageous effort, she was sentenced to 5 years by Chaoyang County Court in 2002 and was detained at the Dabei Prison in Shenyang City where she was subjected to various torture for upholding her faith.
Ms. Li was arrested again on September 30, 2016, after she was reported for distributing Falun Gong information materials. This time, she was sentenced to 4 years. She was held in Chaoyang City Detention Center before being sent to Liaoning Province Women’s Prison.
Tortured in Liaoyang City Detention Center
When Ms. Li was taken to Chaoyang City Detention Center after her latest arrest, the guards accepted her even though she was having dangerously high blood pressure. On the second day of her detention, the guards took her to do another examination and the result remained the same.
To avoid any responsibility, guard Liu Xiaohui ordered Ms. Li to sign a statement, saying, “If I don’t take the medicine, I will be responsible for the consequences.” When Ms. Li refused to comply, Liu ordered eight inmates to forcibly hold her hand for her to sign it. Ms. Li resisted with all her strength and she experienced sudden tightness in her chest. As a result, Liu stopped the inmates and left.
Seconds later, another guard, Li Qiushi, came in. He instructed the inmates to hold Ms. Li down on the ground and tried to force-feed her high blood pressure medicine. Ms. Li resisted and the inmates had to give up.
In retaliation, the guards refused to provide utensils to Ms. Li, forcing her to eat with her hands. At night, she wasn’t given a blanket and had to sleep on a bare bedboard. It was cold at night in October in Northeast China. While all the other inmates were covered with thick blankets, Ms. Li was wearing summer short sleeves and thin pants. She couldn’t help shivering.
During the day, when Ms. Li refused to watch the propaganda TV program, an inmate named Liu Yangyang hit her head with a roll of toilet paper and pulled her hair.
Later Ms. Li was transferred to cell 309, where Bao Yingying was the guard in charge and Zhao Hong was the inmate head. Ms. Li was told to wear “shared clothes” that were left by previous inmates and was extorted 140 yuan for wearing such clothes, no matter how long she had them on. Other warm clothes were more expensive, for example, 160 yuan for thermal undergarments and 240 yuan for a winter jacket.
She was also forced to borrow daily necessaries from Zhao Hong and had to pay high “interest” for it. For example, if she borrowed one roll of toilet paper, she had to pay back two or three rolls or any number of rolls decided by Zhao Hong. It was the same when she borrowed underwear or socks.
Tortured in Liaoning Province Women’s Prison
The Chaoyang County Court tried Ms. Li at 9 a.m. on April 27, 2017. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her. The judge later sentenced her to four years.
As soon as Ms. Li was taken to the first ward in Liaoning Province Women’s Prison on December 5, 2017, she was told to go to the guards’ office and shout “report” before entering the office. Ms. Li refused to comply, and chief guard Qu Xiaoqing made her stand still for about two hours. Later Ms. Li was assigned to the second team.
Guard Qu told Yan Hongying, the production team lead (also an inmates’ head), “She (Ms. Li) didn’t cooperate with us, let her study the prison rules in the canteen.” The canteen was actually a hallway used to store miscellaneous items, such as tableware. The window was broken and the cold wind blew through the crack.
From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Ms. Li was forced to stay there while being watched by two inmates. By the time she was allowed to go back to her cell, she was frozen.
Four days later, a team lead named Wang Bo called Ms. Li to the guards’ desk and ordered her to give up practicing Falun Gong. After being rejected, Wang was very angry and asked Ms. Li to go back to the canteen. Ms. Li refused, “How can you continue to freeze me? You can’t even treat murderers so cruelly.” Wang ignored her protest and ordered four inmates to drag her back to the canteen. The inmates verbally abused her and beat her on the head with a water bottle.
The next morning, guard Yan sent four inmates to beat Ms. Li. They dragged her to a blind spot of the surveillance, pushed her to the ground, stuffed her mouth with a rag, and then beat and kicked her. Ms. Li’s face and neck were injured. She almost suffocated with her mouth being stuffed. Inmate Ye Ping also tore apart her winter jacket.
Guard Yan asked Ms. Li, “Do you still shout ‘Falun Dafa is good’ [in protest]?”
“When you beat me and do evil to me, I will!” Ms. Li said.
In order to force Ms. Li to compromise, the guards began to require her to pay tribute to them by reporting herself as an inmate. Ms. Li firmly refused and was forced to stay in the cold canteen for eight days.
Intense Persecution Before Scheduled Release Date
The guards didn’t only subject Ms. Li to the “freezing” torture, but also tormented her with the more brutal “heat torture.”
Ms. Li was summoned by guard Li Xiaoting to a small room on June 9, 2020, where two large machines emitted heat nonstop. The temperature was so high that anyone who entered the room would sweat profusely. At the same time, inmates played videos smearing Falun Gong on a computer. Ms. Li refused to watch it.
Two weeks later, guard Wu Xizhuo called Ms. Li to her office. She attempted to force Ms. Li to renounce her faith by insulting her. Ms. Li stayed calm and told her the facts about Falun Gong. Then Wu ordered five inmates to push Ms. Li onto the ground and handcuffed her behind her back. Then they made her kneel on the ground. Wu shouted, “Bring the computer over here! Turn on the volume!” Ms. Li still wouldn’t watch the propaganda video. Without other choices, the guards sent Ms. Li back to the “heat torture room.”
After taking Ms. Li back to her cell in the evening, the inmates didn’t allow her to wash herself and forced her to stand still from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Once inmate Li Shuang dragged Ms. Li under a window, the blind spot of the surveillance system, and pushed her into a basin full of filthy water.
Another time when Ms. Li tried to use the bathroom, inmate Tian Ying dragged her by her clothes, tearing them apart and then pushing her onto the ground. Ms. Li shouted “Falun Dafa is good” in protest. Then the guard Liu Yu handcuffed her behind her back for 7 hours.
Ms. Li for the next 54 days, was held in the heat torture room during the day and deprived of sleep at night. She developed very intense headaches and felt dizzy all the time. Inmate Tian Ying said it was “heat stroke” and attempted to force-feed her with an unknown drug.
The tortures lasted until August 31, 2020, when she was released. During the entire time, Ms. Li served time in the prison, she wasn’t allowed to buy any daily necessities for refusing to wear the prisoner’s badge.
Her health was greatly damaged as a result of the torture. Eight days before her release, she lost feelings and mobility of her body on the right side. She left the prison in a wheelchair. She still struggles with some symptoms at the time of writing.
Related articles:
Once Imprisoned for Their Faith, Two Liaoning Women to Face Heavy Sentences Again
My Experience of Being Tortured for Five Years in the Shenyang Women's Prison (Liaoning Province)
Related article in Chinese:
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Category: Torture of Women
